Sunday and midweek share tips

Each week we round up the Sunday newspaper share tips and the views of the mid week tipsters too.

For the archive of the Mail on Sunday's Midas' share tips follow this link

Sunday Telegraph

Northern Foods has been an underperformer in the past but there are signs that things are starting to go right. A long-awaited disposal programme is almost finished and the food manufacturing sector has seen an unprecedented amount of corporate activity this year. One analyst this week described the company as a 'sitting duck' for a takeover. Buy

UBC has since raised £3m to allow it to fund a digital music download project, and could have discovered a market in impulse-buying music via the radio. Trading conditions are predicted to improve and the group says full year performance will reflect that. Buy.

Shares in Moss Bros are at a two-and-a-half-year low at 66p, after the menswear retailer said in October that it was having 'a difficult year'. Baugur, the Icelandic investor owner of House of Fraser and Oasis, has a 29 per cent stake in the company and ambitions in the clothing arena. 2007 maybe the year it swoops. Buy.

Aim-listed property company Wichford, last week announced impressive results - pre-tax profits rose to £9.9m, up from £2.4m the year before. With Wichford's management eyeing further expansion into continental Europe, next year could also generate sturdy growth. Buy

And mid-week newspaper share tips...

Housebuilder Persimmon has its own management and the balance sheet to acquire the land it needs at or near its asset value, says the Times. Persimmon shares are good valu, adds the paper. Buy.

The Independent believes the climate change reduction firm Agcert's long-term story is too compelling to ignore. Prepare yourself for a potentially bumpy ride, but buy.

Smith & Nephew shares look expensive and there are other healthcare companies which look more attractive, says the Telegraph. Investors should wait for some clarity. Avoid, says the Independent and the Telegraph.

Playtech has no exposure to the troubled US market. Trading on 14 times 2007 forecast earnings the shares look good value, buy says the Times.

Pinewood Sheperton said yesterday that trading for this year is in line with expectations, sending its shares up more than 8% With prospects for the year ahead looking encouraging, now is the time to buy, says the Independent.

The performance this week from the digital channels suggests there is room
for some optimism about ITV's operations. In addition, the advertising market is set for recovery. Movement on the contract rights renewal issue would also improve matters for ITV. But all these things do no more than justify — the current share price, but only just. It raises few hopes of sustained progression. Hold says the Times.

A takeover move on Hanson faces two obstacles: its exposure to US asbestos legal action, which is running at about $50m a year, and a low tax charge of 18%, which is unlikely to be sustained should Hanson change hands. Hanson shares aren't cheap. But its feat of combining growth with defensive strength in a difficult US market makes it still worth holding said the Times. Trading on 13 times next year's earnings with a healthy dividend yield of nearly 3%, Hanson is well worth the money added the Telegraph.